3.4.7 Claims related to sexual and physical abuse

Claims relating to sexual and physical abuse require that it be established that an incident or incidents of abuse occurred.

The Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission has acknowledged that it is difficult to obtain evidence to establish that abuse occurred for a variety of reasons. These reasons include that there may be no witnesses to the abuse, records may be incomplete or may not exist, or reporting may have been difficult or discouraged, particularly for children.

In recognition of the evidentiary difficulties faced by survivors of physical and sexual abuse, delegates are advised that claimants’ personal accounts, in the form of statutory declarations, may be accepted as evidence in support of claims. Commissions' policy is that:

In all claims relating to sexual and physical abuse, it is open to delegates to accept a credible statutory declaration as sufficient to establish the fact of abuse, taking account of all the particular circumstances of the case and all the available evidence.

However, in the absence of contradictory evidence, delegates will always accept a credible statutory declaration as sufficient to establish the fact of abuse in claims related to incidents of physical or sexual abuse of children under 18 at the time of the abuse.

It is important to note that a statutory declaration is not the only means by which a claimant can establish the fact of abuse. Nor are delegates encouraged to reject claimants' personal accounts that fail to meet the above criteria.

This policy will assist with the first aspect of the claims process – establishing that an incident of abuse occurred. It remains the case that for a claim to be successful, the delegate must be satisfied that a diagnosed medical condition exists and the condition is related to a person’s ADF service.

The acceptance of liability does not automatically mean that compensation will be payable. If liability is accepted, the normal compensation assessments will occur.

Statutory Declaration

Where a person provides evidence in support of their claim in the form of a personal account, the account must be provided by way of a statutory declaration.

The statutory declaration must be provided by the person who allegedly suffered the abuse unless the person is medically or legally incapable of providing a personal account, in which case the personal account must be provided on behalf of the person by the person’s authorised representative.

The statutory declaration should include as much and as detailed information as possible relating to the abuse and to the person who allegedly suffered the abuse. While delegates can determine a claim with any amount of evidence before them, they are required to form a view of the value of the evidence before them. The statutory declaration should include if possible:

the person’s history of employment in Defence, both before and after the incident/s of abuse;

the details of the abuse incident/s, including

the date of occurrence of the incident/s. While it may not always be possible to provide an exact date, as detailed information as possible should be provided.

the position/role of the person at the time of the incident/s

where the person was employed/serving/deployed at the time of incident/s

where the alleged abuse occurred

a description of the circumstances of the abuse incident/s, including who initiated or effected the abuse and the names and/or ranks/roles of witnesses or third parties.

information about any connection between the alleged abuse and the person’s employment in Defence; and

Information about when, how and to whom any written or verbal report or complaint was made. Any resultant actions taken in regard to, or outcome of, such a report or complaint should also be included.

Corroborative evidence

Where a delegate requires corroborative evidence to be satisfied to the requisite standard of the fact of an abuse event, the scope of what they may consider is broad. Delegates have wide discretion and may weigh or discount the significance of particular items of evidence in accordance with their own judgement and reason.

These considerations mean it is impossible to provide an exhaustive list of what may constitute corroborative evidence. Depending on the circumstances, examples will include contemporaneous reports, eyewitness statements, Defence investigations and information about abuse ‘clusters’ identified by the Defence Abuse Response Taskforce.

Contradictory evidence

Delegates are required to investigate the circumstances of every claim. This includes finding and considering all relevant evidence when determining a claim.

In this investigation, evidence may be found that contradicts the contentions made in a statutory declaration. In these situations, the delegate must make a determination based on all evidence at his or her disposal. If the delegate is not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the contentions outlined in the statutory declaration establish the fact of abuse, the claimant can be invited to provide further evidence or the claim can be rejected.

Sensitivity

Claims relating to sexual and physical abuse involve matters that can be distressing to recount and address. Delegates dealing with such claims must do so in a sensitive and careful manner. It is crucial that the privacy of claimants is upheld throughout the claims process.

Notice of Injury

The Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 and its predecessors (but not the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 or the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004) require an employee to give notice in writing of an injury or loss of property as soon as practicable after the employee becomes aware of the injury and provide that the Act does not apply in relation to the injury or loss if this requirement is not met.

Under the new policy, delegates must always treat claims involving allegations of sexual and physical abuse as if proper notice has been given.

About CLIK

The Consolidated Library of Information and Knowledge (CLIK) contains all the legislative, policy and reference material used by DVA staff in providing service to the clients of the Department of Veterans' Affairs.

Rehabilitation

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Important legislative change

As a result of this legislative change, the Department is updating its published information, including hardcopy and website content, as well as CLIK. While this process is well underway, it will take some time before all changes are complete. In the meantime, references within CLIK to the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 or SRCA should now generally be understood to be references to the new DRCA (with the exception of intended historical references to SRCA). It is important to note that the same provision references (i.e., sections, subsections and paragraphs) from the SRCA have been retained in the DRCA.